Research
Lecturer Awards:
2026
- Lecturer Mr Neil Badenhorst was among three national winners in an international competition: Picture This! hosted by the World-Wide Illustrated Picture Book Contest. Mr Badenhorst’s work was part of an international publication and an exhibition at the 2026 Bologna Children’s Book Fair as a part of this.
Recent Publications:
2025
- Resonant realms: Bridging tradition and transformation in Afrikan-Centred design- DESIGN+ Disruptions, Realities, Futures, 18th DEFSA Conference 18 鈥19 September 2025-Dr Reshma Maharajh
- Badenhorst, N. 2025. 鈥楧IY Not? The Value of Zines in Graphic Design Education鈥. Proceedings from the Design Education Forum of South Africa Conference, DESIGN+ Disruptions, Realities, Futures, 18-19 September, Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, South Africa.
- Haese, A & Pretorius, D. 2025. Graphic history and style: Dada Khanyisa鈥檚 drawings for The Widow of Marabastad. Image & Text 39:1-20.
- Khan, I & Pretorius, D. 2025. Seeds of Freedom: The Watermelon in Palestine Posters. Proceedings from the Design Education Forum of South Africa Conference, DESIGN+ Disruptions, Realities, Futures, 18-19 September, Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, South Africa.
- Pretorius, D. 2025. Making a Difference: The Graphic Design Work of Trish de Villiers. In Women Graphic Designers Rebalancing the Canon. Edited by Elizabeth Resnick. London: Bloomsbury. 398-409.
2024
- Badenhorst, N. 2024. 鈥楩IELD NOTES: An Intuitive Approach to Worldbuilding in Illustration鈥. Proceedings from the AMPS Teaching Beyond the Curriculum Conference 17 November 2023
- Van Os, M, Haese, A & Pretorius, D. 2024. A Framework for Creating and Analysing Wordless Picturebooks. Image & Text 38:1-25.
听
2023
- The African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) Project was launched as an interdisciplinary research and engagement initiative involving several FADA departments. The project addresses environmental sustainability and waste economies through collaborative design interventions.
- Pretorius, D. 2023. 鈥淪peak to a community audience鈥: The Staffrider illustrations of Mzwakhe (Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi) 1979-1987. Image & Text 37:1-37.
- Pretorius, D. 2023. Cabinets of Curiosities for the Postcolony II: Tokens: Collections I-V. Cumulus, Connectivity and Creativity in Times of Conflict, University of Antwerp, Belgium. 245-249.
2022
- The Allure of Disability: A Rhetorical Analysis of Three YouTube鈩 Advertisements by Ms. Ilhaam Khan examines how disability is represented in three YouTube advertisements, analysing the persuasive visual and rhetorical strategies used to frame disability in digital media.
- Pretorius, D. 2022. Dead Living Things: A Cabinet of Curiosities in the Postcolony. De Arte 57(2):33-60.
- Pretorius, D. 2022. Dead Living Things: A Cabinet of curiosities in the Postcolony. 1 research unit.
- Pretorius, D. 2022. New book challenges whiteness: a review through the cover image. The Conversation. Available online:
2021
- Dr Adrie Haese, in collaboration with Rhodes University, WorldFish, and the South African United Fishing Front (SAUFF), used Blue Skies Community Engagement funding to develop a COVID-19 safety poster and WhatsApp communication campaign for fish traders, distributed nationally before South Africa鈥檚 fourth COVID wave.
- Pretorius, D. 2021. President, Preacher and Populist: ANC, DA and EFF Leader Posters of the 2019 South African Elections. Critical Arts. 35(2):16-38.
- Pretorius, D. 2021. Teaching Gender and Design in Collaboration with WAM. In Seen, Heard and Valued. WAM Celebrates 40 Years of the Standard Bank Art Collection. Edited by Julia Charlton et al. Johannesburg: Wits Art Museum. 331-335.
- Pretorius, D. 2021. Broadening the 鈥楤lack Consciousness Aesthetic鈥: Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi鈥檚 illustrations for Staffrider, 1979-1981. ASAI. Available online:
听2019
- Pretorius, D. 2019. SLUIT NOU AAN! South African Union Defence Force recruitment posters from the Second World War. South African Historical Journal. 71(1):41-69.
听2018
- Lize Groenewald submitted her doctoral dissertation on Ernst de Jong and curated the exhibition Helen de Leeuw and Ernst de Jong: Shaping Modernity in Mid-Twentieth Century South Africa at the FADA Gallery, currently under review for creative production recognition.
- Zamasele Nsele applied for departmental funding to chair a panel at the ACASA 17th Triennial on African Arts (Ghana) and contributed a chapter to Critical Pedagogies in South African Visual Culture Education while completing her doctorate.
- Dr Adrie Haese presented a paper at the iJADE Conference (Dublin), later accepted for publication. Her research on wordless picturebooks and literacy resulted in a co-authored article in the International Journal of Art & Design Education, multiple conference presentations, and a book chapter submission to Challenging the 鈥楢partheids鈥 of Knowledge in Higher Education through Social Innovation. She also received NRF funding for community-based design research projects.听
2017
- Prof Deirdre Pretorius spent her sabbatical researching a scholarly book on South African Graphic Design History and developing a related book chapter. She produced work for the Booknesses exhibition, helped establish the Artists鈥 Book Club, co-organised the DEFSA 2017 Conference, and presented seminars on graphic design and postcolonialism at Goethe University, Frankfurt. She also convened 12 MA Design seminars and continued serving on several academic boards.
- Brenden Gray presented papers at the International SoTL in the South Conference (UJ) and the 14th DEFSA Conference, and also presented at a Wits Decolonisation Symposium. He organised four STAND seminars, co-organised the SoTL conference, and published opinion pieces in the Mail & Guardian. Gray published an article in Education as Change, submitted a book chapter to Educating the Citizen Designer in South Africa, and co-edited the forthcoming volume Critical Pedagogies in South African Visual Culture Education. His doctoral research included fieldwork in Johannesburg schools.
- Christa van Zyl continued developing an archive of participatory design projects, presented 东京热 Talks, and supported student participation at the DEFSA Conference, where undergraduate and postgraduate students presented papers.
听2016
- Despite several lecturers focusing on doctoral studies, the department strengthened its research profile through accredited publications, conference presentations, and research funding.
- Prof Deirdre Pretorius published an article in the South African Historical Journal, contributed a chapter to Designing Worlds, and published an exhibition review in Communication Design.
- Ms Robyn Cook published in De Arte, attended the Behance 99U Conference in New York, presented a Design Thinking 101 workshop at the ACT Conference, and received NRF Thuthuka funding (R71 000) for a three-week residency in Fittja, Sweden.
- Ms Lize Groenewald and MA student Suzette Britz presented at the UP International Symposium on Food Studies, while Groenewald also presented at the 31st SAVAH Conference.
- Ms Christa van Zyl co-authored a paper presented at the PRISA Conference, and Brenden Gray co-presented at the Multimodal Landscapes Conference (UCT).
- Lecturers also contributed to faculty research initiatives including VIAD, STAND, the SARChI Research Seminar Series, and DESIS, while mentoring initiatives and the allocation of research assistants supported research development.
2012
- Pretorius, D, Verhoef, G & Sauthoff, M. 2012. The printed propaganda of the Communist Party of South Africa during World War II. Image and Text 20: 30-49.
- 鈥淐loudless skies鈥 versus 鈥榲itamins of the mind鈥: An argumentative interrogation of the visual rhetoric of South African Panorama and Lantern cover designs (1949-1961). Image & text 20.
2011
- Wounds of the soul: reflections on Inge Hyson鈥檚 鈥楾he mindful garden鈥. de arte 84.
- Gray, B. 2011. Collaboration: Dialogue as Catalyst for Redefining Creative Practice. Art South Africa. 10(2)
2010
- D Litt et Phil (Historical Studies). Ideology and Identities: Printed Graphic Propaganda of the Communist Party of South Africa 1921-1950. 东京热 Jun 2007 Dec 2010
- Gray, B. 2010. An exploded consciousness; David Andrew and Marcus Neustetter鈥檚 C30 project. Art South Africa 6(3).
- Gray, B. 2010. Making Art in the wrong place: Neighbourhood and otherness in Speak English to Me,Critical arts; a South-North journal of cultural and media studies, edited by L. Faber & Bishop, R. [sl]: Routledge.
2009
- Mr Blatter, The boys and the bicycle kick: excavating identities in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Logo, in Imaging ourselves: visual identities in representation, edited by L. Farber. Johannesburg:VIAD.
2008
- Pretorius, D. 2008. Countering stereotypes: the representation of Africans in Communist Party of South Africa cartoons 1930-1936. Image and Text 14: 54-68.
- Foundations of the nation: the Hillbrow and Brixton towers as figurations of national identity in South Africa, in proceedings of 6th International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, Arlington, VA, August 11-16, 2008. Co-author: TFH Legge.
- The swerve upwards: concrete structures in Johannesburg as spectacular signifiers of the megacity, in Johannesburg & megacities phenomena, edited by L Farber. Johannesburg:VIAD.
2007
- Pretorius, D. 2007. Amapasi Asiwafuni! / To hell with pass laws! Class, race and gender identities in the anti-pass laws cartoons published in Umsebenzi / South African Worker 1933-1936. Image and Text13.
2004
- Pretorius, D & Sauthoff, M. 2004. Challenging apartheid; posters from the United Democratic Front and End Conscription Campaign. Image and Text 11: 23-32.
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Recent Conference Papers
2025
- Badenhorst, N. 2025. ‘DIY NOT? The Value of Zines in Graphic Design Education’. DEFSA Proceedings, Design+ Disruptions, Realities, Futures听
- Seeds of Freedom by Ms. Ilhaam Khan (Co-authored with D. Pretorius) for DEFSA
investigates themes of liberation and social justice through visual communication and design practice.
听2024
- Badenhorst, N. 2024. ‘FIELD NOTES: An Intuitive Approach to Worldbuilding in Illustration’. AAMPS Proceedings Series, Teaching Beyond the Curriculum.
2023
- At Visual Redress Conference 2023, Ms. Ilhaam Khan Co-presented with D. Pretorius, contributing to discussions on visual culture and the role of design in addressing historical and social redress.
- The Spectrum of Disability Representation in New Media by Ms. Ilhaam Khan for DEFSA 2023 explores the range of disability representations across contemporary digital platforms, highlighting how new media shapes public perceptions of disability.
2014
- van Zyl, CE. 2014. The Challenges and Complexities Inherent to Multidisciplinary Community Engagement Projects in Service Learning 鈥 Green Week 2014. Cumulus Conference Proceedings, September 2014
2013
- van Zyl, CE. 2013. Supporting a community through design: Melville, Johannesburg. Paper presented at Design educators Forum South Africa, Conference Proceedings, September 2013.
- Cook, R. 2013. Sober & Lonely: On generosity, artist-run platforms and new institutional strategies Paper presented at SAVAH, Conference Proceedings, September 2013.
2012
- Pretorius, D. 2012. Representing masculinities in Huisgenoot Tempo Magazine. Paper presented at Work/Force: South African masculinities in the media, 13-14 September 2012, Department of Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University.
- July 2012. 鈥楥loudless skies鈥 versus 鈥榲itamins of the mind鈥: cover designs of Lantern and Panorama as utopian rhetoric in the construction of nation (1949-1961). South African Visual Arts Historians (SAVAH) / ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012, University of South Africa.
2011
- Pretorius, D. 2011. The Printed Propaganda of the Communist Party of South Africa 1921-1950, Proceedings from the Design History Society Annual Conference, Design Activism and Social Change, 7-10 September 2012, Barcelona, Spain. Available online:
- Gray, B. 2011. Why design cannot be taught: graduate attributes and learning in an age of super-complexity. Paper presented at Design Educators Forum of South Africa Conference, 东京热, 7 鈥 8 September.
Christa van Zyl
2010
- Gray, B. 2010. Habitus and reflective practicum: tensions between notions of teaching and learning in design education. Paper presented at the University Of Johannesburg Teaching Excellence Conference, 27 October 2010
- Gray, B. 2010. Conversation and aesthetics in Speak English to Me. Paper presented at Memory in the City architecture seminar series, School of Architecture and Planning, 16 February, The University of the Witwatersrand.
- Gray, B. 2010. Making findings and making do: The challenges of practice-led research in writing up Speak English To Me (2007鈥2008). Paper presented at On Making: Integrated Approaches to Practice-Led Research in Art and Design Colloquium, October, 东京热.
听2009
- Pretorius, D. 2009. Visually Constructing Socialist Identity in 20th Century South Africa: A Comparison of Communist Party of South Africa Cartoons from the 1930s and Congress of South Africa Trade Union Posters from the 1980s, in Imaging Ourselves: Visual Identities in Representation. Johannesburg: 东京热 Research Centre:90-105.
- Gray, B. 2009. Critical Looking in Advertising; Gerry Human鈥檚 东京热 Alumni Exhibition Humanism: The Art of Selling. Paper presented at Imaging Ourselves; Visual Identities in Representation, edited by Leora Farber.
2008
- Pretorius, D. 2008. Visual representation and race in the printed propaganda of the Communist Party of South Africa: Cartoons from Umsebenzi 1930-1936. South African Visual Arts Historians (SAVAH) Annual Conference, 4-6 September 2008, Stellenbosch.
2006
- Gray, B. 2006. Learners as agents; Design as a learning vehicle. Paper presented at Design Educators Federation of South Africa, 21 鈥 22 September, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
